Regarding the Heavenly Dao Ravine, the realm boundary, and the mustard seed layer, legends or scattered fragments passed down in the cultivation world invariably paint the former with beautiful imaginations and descriptions. However, only a select few Mahayana cultivators, through their day-to-day practice, have inadvertently glimpsed a shred of the Heavenly Dao's truth.
Cultivators value destiny and karma, revere the Heavenly Dao as supreme, and acknowledge the Primordial Chaos as the beginning. Therefore, it is universally accepted that the Heavenly Dao represents the purest, most primal existence of heaven and earth. One could say, the Heavenly Dao is everything, and the Heavenly Dao Ravine is the cleanest and purest.
But Qing Lan knew it wasn't like that.
This was, in fact, the darkest place in the world.
He stepped onto the dusty ground, and a green mist billowed up, instantly transforming the terrain and revealing withered yellow grass leaves gnawed unevenly by grey worms.
Immediately after, his figure vanished from his original spot. In the next instant, he appeared before Yue Bufan.
Clanging sounds echoed as Yue Bufan and a female cultivator in white fought fiercely, neither willing to yield.
"Dao Lord Qing Lan, this female cultivator is quite strange. Don't intervene, let me spar with her a few more rounds," Yue Bufan said, showing no surprise at Qing Lan finding him.
Just moments ago, he had entered the Heavenly Dao Ravine searching for his daughter and Sheng Yi. Hearing movement ahead, he assumed it was them, but upon investigating, he found a Saint-tier Wuxin Flower blooming.
The Wuxin Flower had extremely demanding environmental requirements; it wouldn't reside in anything but divine soil, wouldn't grow without pure dew, and wouldn't flourish without heavenly rain.
Yue Bufan, recalling that Bai Sheng Yi was an alchemist and seeing the Wuxin Flower about to fully bloom, had decided to wait. As he was collecting the Wuxin Flower and preparing to gather the divine soil beneath it, this white-robed female cultivator suddenly lunged out, attempting to seize his divine soil.
How could Yue Bufan tolerate this!
And she was merely a Nascent Soul cultivator!
Did she truly think he, a Mahayana cultivator, had no temper?
Yue Bufan engaged her in several furious exchanges. Unexpectedly, the female cultivator possessed peculiar abilities; whenever he was about to injure her, she could always evade fatal attacks.
As Yue Bufan intended to further probe her origins, he saw Qing Lan move, his gaze chilling as he struck the female cultivator with a palm.
"Hey! Dao Lord Qing Lan, you wouldn't go for the kill against a junior, would you?"
Qing Lan's expression was indifferent: "This is a traitor from the Divine启 Academy."
Yue Bufan understood.
In that case, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to interfere.
With that thought, he immediately withdrew, stepping aside and warning, "This female cultivator also has a three-headed black flood dragon. Dao Lord, be careful!"
As soon as his words fell, a massive black head erupted from the ground, attacking Qing Lan with lightning speed.
The female cultivator, Yun Youyue, glared at Qing Lan resentfully: "Traitor? Why must Grand Venerable Qing Lan cast such a heavy accusation upon my Artifact Refining Peak lineage? It's merely the victor takes all."
If she harbored jealousy and hatred towards Bai Sheng Yi, then towards Qing Lan, she felt only infinite animosity!
Had it not been for his interference, how could Ancestor Qing Yun have alienated her father and aunt? Had it not been for his emergence from seclusion and the severe punishment of her father, how could her father have been so humiliated? How could the Yun family have vanished so suddenly? How could she have ended up swallowing the spiritual energy of her aunt and father to escape, enduring so much hardship?
Yes, even now, Yun Youyue believed that everything she had endured was a tempering bestowed by the Heavenly Dao.
She admitted she had made mistakes in the past, but she felt she simply didn't believe in fate and wanted to pursue her own Great Dao.
However, she was no match for Qing Lan yet, so she could only cause him some trouble.
Despite Yun Youyue's extensive thoughts, it all transpired within a single breath. The three-headed black flood dragon attacked Qing Lan from three directions. As Qing Lan was about to be swallowed by the enormous, gaping maw, Yun Youyue let out a cold laugh, flicked the black stone in her hand, and then turned away.
"The Black Obsidian Jun Stone can not only seize luck but also conceal one's aura?" Yue Bufan exclaimed in surprise. "No wonder! No wonder! This makes sense."
Because she held the advantage in luck, Yun Youyue was always incredibly fortunate. Her attacks never missed and always hit vital points, while others' attacks against her never landed effectively.
For high-level cultivators, rather than relying on sight, they placed more importance on capturing auras. Once an aura was concealed, their combat instincts would subconsciously lag by a step.
"This female cultivator cannot be allowed to live!" Yue Bufan warned Qing Lan.
Misty fog swirled. Yun Youyue, believing she had escaped, looked around, only to find herself still standing in the same spot!
The mist beneath her feet felt like tangible ropes, binding her tightly.
"You think this is enough to capture me?"
She raised her chin, let out a cold snort, and unleashed two more artifacts. A faint blue light enveloped her, and instantly, she vanished from her original position. In the next second, Yue Bufan and Qing Lan appeared simultaneously where she had just been.
"She actually got away!" Yue Bufan frowned. "Bad luck. Never mind, I'll go back to looking for Sheng Yi and the others."
Qing Lan calculated with his fingers, his expression shifting slightly: "They've already gone out."
Within the Heavenly Dao Ravine, there was no longer any trace of Bai Sheng Yi or Qin Si.
Yue Bufan: "Ah?"
Qing Lan looked up at the hazy sky, where lightning and thunder intertwined, and grey clouds tangled together as if two forces were wrestling for victory.
...
"Dean Qin?"
The summit of the Talisman Peak of Divine启 Academy.
Following the disposal of the previous peak master, Qiu Xia, the new peak master, Pu Weiming, had diligently confined himself to teaching students, leading them in continuous practice day and night at the Nine True Talismans on the peak, wishing he could even move the students' dormitories to the summit.
Today, Pu Weiming arrived at the True Eye Talisman, the core of the Nine True Talismans, early to prepare for the day's teaching. To his surprise, he saw Dean Qin, who should have been on the outer continent.
Dean Qin, who was already aloof and indifferent, seemed even more like someone who had emerged from a ten-mile ice pond today, his impatience and coldness palpable from afar.
A killing aura permeated the air.
His brow twitched, and he immediately bowed and greeted him: "Dean Qin, has the Divine启 Grand Gathering concluded? Do you have any instructions for your subordinates?"
Qin Si said coldly: "Give me the secret key to enter the True Eye Talisman."
Just moments ago, he had seen Bai Sheng Yi on the verge of waking, but a ball of grey cloud had fallen from the sky, politely yet forcefully expelling him and Bai Sheng Yi from the Heavenly Dao Ravine!
When it came to usage and abandonment, or indifference and heartlessness, the Heavenly Dao was second to none.
What angered Qin Si the most was that since the Heavenly Dao of the Divine启 Continent had achieved its goal, their departure was not entirely unwelcome. However, the moment they exited, Bai Sheng Yi had, along with the comatose female cultivator and the Boundary Barrier Lonely Flower, fallen into the illusion of the True Eye Talisman!
The True Eye Talisman was the most ferocious killing talisman among the Nine True Talismans!
The Nine True Talismans were not originally called the Nine True Talismans but the Eight-Word Talisman, meaning all eight different talisman attack methods were combined into a single talisman.
The creator of this talisman was Fu Yingtian, the founding peak master of the Talisman Peak, a celestial prodigy of the Divine启 Academy. His talisman skills were so refined that he poured countless efforts into creating the Eight-Word Talisman, but the "eight" was ultimately incomplete.
Fu Yingtian tried every means possible but could not perfect the talisman.
He never managed to break through the Golden Core stage in his lifetime, thus his lifespan was limited. In his later years, he traveled extensively, and when his life was nearing its end, he accidentally obtained an ancient inheritance in a secret realm, completing the Nine True Talismans.
"Nine" represented the ultimate number. The power of the Nine True Talismans greatly increased, making it the treasure that protected the Talisman Peak. The ninth talisman, the True Eye Talisman, became a rare killing talisman in the world due to its ferocity.
Normally, apart from teaching, disciples of the Talisman Peak would not come to this place.
Pu Weiming's legs went weak, his head nearly touching the ground, and he stammered: "That... that... Dean Qin, the True Eye Talisman is not an illusion, and there is no key to enter it."